The inclusion of a public health insurance plan in health care reform legislation as an option for individuals, families and businesses promises to be one of the most controversial and crucial decisions made by Congress. With the myriad health care challenges facing rural people and rural communities, the decision on whether to include a public health insurance plan option has significant poten...

Department of Agric. Economics and Extension, University of Uyo, Uyo,Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. E-mail address: [email protected] The study assessed rural household accessibility to health care on agricultural resource use efficiency in Ikwuano Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria. Primary data were duly obtained using well structured questionnaire which was administered on eighty r...

We examined the relationship between race-specific rural mortality and the health infrastructure of rural counties in light of America's recent emergence of a rural mortality penalty. Using the Compressed Mortality File from National Center for Health Statistics (2008-2012) and county-level demographic, socioeconomic, and health care indicators from the Area Health Resource File and the US Cens...

In most traditional communities definitions of health and illness intertwine with local beliefs and customs, and part of social and cultural facts that constitute everyday reality for the people. The basic principles of primary health care advocate essential health care that is scientific, and practical provided within a social and cultural context, using appropriate technologies readily availa...

The development of a health-care system depends on a country’s economic, political, social and cultural background. Because of China’s transformation over the last 20 years from a socialist economy to a market economy, China’s healthcare services have been converted from social and public goods to market goods without government planning or intervention. Liu’s article (1) in this issue clearly ...

A cross-sectional study was carried out to assess the impact of perceived quality and cost of utilisation of primary health care services, in relation to malaria, in rural and urban districts in Tanzania. This study intended to explore whether there are differences between rural and urban users in terms of their perceptions of quality of health services and how these perceptions affect househol...

BACKGROUND The population of Ghana is increasingly becoming urbanized with about 70 % of the estimated 26.9 million people living in urban and peri-urban areas. Nonetheless, eight out of the ten regions in Ghana remain predominantly rural where only 32.1 % of the national health sector workforce works. Doctor-patient ratio in a predominantly rural region is about 1:18,257 compared to 1:4,099 in...

BACKGROUND Rurality can contribute to the vulnerability of people with chronic diseases. Qualitative research can identify a wide range of health care access issues faced by patients living in a remote or rural setting. OBJECTIVE To systematically review and synthesize qualitative research on the advantages and disadvantages rural patients with chronic diseases face when accessing both rural ...